Environmental reviews, planning in process

By David Anderson / Staff Writer

Published: Friday, December 14, 2012 at 09:48 PM.

Interim Planning Director Adam Short said he is developing a list of “priority” and “alternate” homes to be demolished in the MLK corridor. He plans to bring the list before the City Council in January.

“If we can remove homes that are visible from MLK, that’s a high priority,” Short said.

He said homes within a block or two of MLK would also be considered for demolition.

Short said the homes being considered are in such a state of disrepair that they have become “almost safety concerns.”

He said city officials will notify the owners of the homes which are ultimately slated for demolition.

Short said the demolitions will “tie in with all the other things we’ve done along MLK,” including construction of a roundabout at MLK and King Street, sidewalk improvements and more, which have been funded by grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation and N.C. Department of Transportation.

Harris said all projects are also going through environmental reviews, which must be approved by a variety of state agencies before grant funds are released.

Local government officials expect work on the various projects funded by N.C. Catalyst block grants to begin this spring.

Officials in Kinston and Lenoir and Jones counties, as well as staffers with RSM Harris Associates in Goldsboro — the firm administering the grants for the city and counties — are in the midst of environmental reviews and other planning processes.

“We’re still a few months away before anybody sees any housing work or street work,” said David Harris, president of RSM Harris.

Community Development Block Grants — worth $1.1 million — have been awarded to local governments through the N.C. Department of Commerce’s N.C. Catalyst program.

Kinston will receive $100,000 to demolish dilapidated homes in the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor; Lenoir County will receive $500,000 to revitalize six homes along Spring Drive near La Grange, as well as pave the road and build water and sewer lines for the homes.

Jones County will receive $500,000 to rehabilitate an area on the outskirts of Pollocksville, with property and infrastructure improvements.

The members of the Kinston City Council recently voted to accept the $100,000 grant — the city will put up a $25,000 match — and establish a special revenue fund.

Interim Planning Director Adam Short said he is developing a list of “priority” and “alternate” homes to be demolished in the MLK corridor. He plans to bring the list before the City Council in January.

“If we can remove homes that are visible from MLK, that’s a high priority,” Short said.

He said homes within a block or two of MLK would also be considered for demolition.

Short said the homes being considered are in such a state of disrepair that they have become “almost safety concerns.”

He said city officials will notify the owners of the homes which are ultimately slated for demolition.

Short said the demolitions will “tie in with all the other things we’ve done along MLK,” including construction of a roundabout at MLK and King Street, sidewalk improvements and more, which have been funded by grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation and N.C. Department of Transportation.

Harris said all projects are also going through environmental reviews, which must be approved by a variety of state agencies before grant funds are released.

“I’m really excited about it,” Spring Drive resident Lillie Sutton said Friday. “Sometimes it takes longer to get started but I hope they will go on and get started and get it over with.”

The rear of Sutton’s home faces Spring Drive, and she does not have access to any streets parallel to Spring. She wondered how she would be able to get in and out when street work begins.

“I have to have a way to go in and out,” she said. “I can’t be like a helicopter — just jump up in the air and come down on the road.”

Harris said his office has fielded a number of questions from residents. Anyone with questions should call RSM Harris at 919-751-0909.

“If there are any specific requirements that come out of that environmental review, they get incorporated into the construction,” Harris explained. “Up to this point, there are not any of those details.”

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or David.Anderson@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at DavidFreePress.

BREAKOUT BOX:

For more information on N.C. Catalyst grant projects in Kinston, Lenoir and Jones counties, call RSMHarris Associates of Goldsboro at 919-751-0909